My Xb is perfect for all the many little errands I run around town, and is fun on two-lane back-roads, but it’s a miserable freeway car for longer trips. It’s harsh-riding, and the noise really gets to me, especially on rough older pavement. Driving back from the Portland airport the other night after returning from Mexico, I put in the earplugs I used on the airplane, and had a very powerful desire to be behind the soothing wheel of my former W124 300E mistress, whose story I will tell soon. So what would you like to find in the driveway, adorned with a red ribbon?
Well, A W124 is high on my list, as is a `97-`97 Outback wagon. Odd, I know, but I am currently car shopping.
I’d like a 63 Beetle in my driveway. One that is fully assembled and runs, which I believe is the same thing I wished for last year.
I amazes me that they were able to put these things together one a minute on the assembly line, yet it took me a whole year to get the headliner and carpet kit in mine. I blame inferior reproduction parts, but it’s probably me.
Cheers everyone!
I know the feeling. The trouble with do-it-yourself is every time I do something that takes some skill, I’m doing it for the first time. Not that it stops me from trying.
Three cheers for the ’63 Beetle, my first car. Red with a sunroof please.
Nice. I’ve submitted a story to Paul that involves a red sunroof Beetle, albeit a 65 with a hand crank sunroof..
I’m really, really hoping I’ll get my ’62 sunroof and ’63 sedan projects done in 2013 (pans are painted – yay!). Taking on two at one time may not have been the wisest thing in the world, though.
3rd (E36) (preferably) or 4th (E46) gen BMW 3-series coupe. Black.
Christmas gifts should be something you like, but probably wouldn’t buy for yourself — too much of a luxury probably, or impractical, or both… So, do you suppose Santa could bring me a black Lotus Europa TC JPS? My first Superfast Matchbox car was a Europa and I have loved them ever since. (The Superfast series were Matchbox’s response to Hot Wheels, with wheels suitable for use on the ubiquitous orange Hot Wheels track.)
I’d like a little classic convertible. Something like a MG Midget, Fiat Spider or similar. I’ve already had a Triumph Spitfire so ideally something different.
A 2005 – 2009 red Mustang GT with 5-speed.
For me, a 1990 Volvo 760 Turbo sedan 🙂
This
I guess we’ll have to arm wrestle for it. 🙂
You sir have impeccable taste in cars. I have one but it’s well, you know…
Puke-olive green! My favorite! I’m serious about that, I LOVE that color!
That was the color of my ’72 Firebird Esprit, although Pontiac referred to it as Brasilia Gold.
What engine did it have? I think I’m falling in love.
Pontiac called it “Golden Olive” (in ’73). I think the other divisions just called it “green gold metallic”. It’s my second favorite color of all time 🙂
That Esprit is beautiful, BTW.
Thank you. I actually shot its “good” side. There was a slight crease on the driver’s side door.
That color is tricky to get right. It can be “metallic olive drab” or “lime gold”, and there is not a huge amount of difference between them.
That’s a good choice!
I cannot leave this behind!
spinal tap.
Carrol Shelby’s GLHS #001 with the Hans Hermann experimental 16v head. That thing had to be brutal fun to drive!
(Google Image)
Oh, since it is Christmas I’d really like a Series I Facel-Vega Excellence with the 392 and 4 speed in a dark colour of your choice. Thanks, Santa! Only 4 sleeps to go…
Nice one! I have to ask though, why not a later version with disc brakes?
Unhappy compromises made to original design as time went on. Ideally Santa would find a real early one with the HK 500’s hood scoop, but I’ll understand if this is not possible.
1973 Firebird Formula 455 in Verdant Green with white interior.
My favorite year Pontiac, my favorite model car (Firebird), my favorite color ever (Verdant Green), my favorite color interior (white), and my favorite engine. It’s for sale too.
Wow, that’s a great color combination! Those colors would also look great on a ’73 Grand Ville two-door hardtop or four-door hardtop.
Verdant green has a lot of metal flakes in it and is truly an amazing color. It would be stunning on a full-size Pontiac with white interior. If I ever decided to change colors on my yucky “Mesa Tan” ’73 Bonneville, it would most likely end up Verdant Green!
2002 Lincoln Town Car Cartier L gently used and well cared for. Dual exhausts nice long wheelbase, enough luggage space to cross the country.
Like this? It was for sale at a local dealer this past fall.
An early, wire-wheeled MGB GT (in red, BRG, or cream), 1968 Chrysler 300 two-door hardtop, a cherry Acura Legend (with the manual), or a 2004-5 Saab 9-5 Aero wagon (manual).
1971 Lincoln Mark III,,,with the high top seats. God my list could go on and on.
As for the 124 Mercedes; had it not been for those costly deep in dash A/C repairs those cars would have been on the road forever here in the South.
I’m pretty sure my “first” ride (home from the hospital) was in my late mother’s Ivy moondust ’71 Mark III with green leather. Nice choice.
I’m currently soliciting quotes for a ’13 TDI Beetle convertible (manual and Heritage wheels, of course!)… does that count?
Nice.
I was all about that ’62 Skylark I saw and wrote about a few weeks back. But I have to expand the wish list to a top 3.
1) A W124 400E/E420. I really regret not going for the “why the hell not” of the V8 over the 260E (or 300E). Don’t get me wrong, the M103 is a lovely engine, but I was parked next to a 400E and the exhaust burble is rather intoxicating…
2) That Skylark
3) this 1964 Cutlass that I saw yesterday.
Oh wow, Laurence. Change the color to dark green inside and out and this would be an exact replica of the car I grew up in, right down to the deluxe wheelcovers. That car set the standard by which all other cars in our family have been measured. The 93 Crown Victoria is the only one that has equaled it in its combo of performance, features, quality and durability. I think I will just stare at it awhile longer. Will you have a CC coming on this? I sure hope so.
…and just when I thought I made up my mind… while doing a School visit… *DROOL*
Izzat Lake Merced Blvd where it curves around to meet Sunset?
Love that Cutlass! Those deluxe wheel covers were rare, even back in the day. I had them however, on my AMT 1:25 scale model Cutlass convertible!
For (as many as possible) wise men: The more efficient European and JDM models thought to be unfit for American driving habits.
For the earth: Fewer cars.
On the foolish demand of fewer cars, I am giving a very-un-Christmas-y gift:
BAH HUMBUG!
MY NAME IS EBENEZER SCROOGE!
Renault Le Car, with the full sunroof. Yeah, yeah, I know. I suck, they suck, etc. But it was easily the most joyful little car I’ve ever driven (I had two), and of all the cars I’ve ever let go, it’s probably the one I most want back.
It might be easier to list everything, then let me cross off the ones I don’t want. 🙂
Depends on when you ask. Last week, it would have been the 78K mi. 61 Lark Cruiser on ebay that was conveniently located one county away from me. But since you ask today, and since I am still under the thrall of BOC’s 66 Chryslers, let’s make it a 66 Chrysler 300 convertible. I’m thinking turbine bronze with white interior.
Then again, there is always this . . . .
> But since you ask today, and since I am still under the thrall of BOC’s 66 Chryslers, let’s make it a 66 Chrysler 300 convertible. I’m thinking turbine bronze with white interior.
LOL! A nice choice (either the ’66 Chrysler or the ’59 Plymouth) 🙂
The real-life version of the car carrying a Christmas tree on my mantel – a 1939 Chevy station wagon, Campbell body please; not Iona; with the ($10 option) vacuum-assisted column mounted shift lever, painted Granville Gray.
(Motor City Classics model, 1/18 scale)
Or a new Ford Fusion wagon with a six-speed stick. Really!
A 1979 charcoal gray Riviera with silver landau top, oyster white leather interior…exactly like my Mom had….probably one of my all time favorite cars ever!
Found the exact car on google – was used in a movie from 1981. Mom’s even had the power moonroof too!
Love it… our wish lists are very related. I have a 1979 Toronado, and would love to have a companion 1979 Riviera and Eldorado (in a dream world with unlimited time, room and money), but I wished for something else for this exercise. See below.
My sister had a 2-tone blue 1977 Seville that she totally loved! Her husband was in the auto business and an older customer of his had traded it in for a new 1979 Riviera (ironically my favorite car of all time) so he bought it for her. I was in that car all the time as a kid growing up and remember how comfortable it was. She sold it in 1986 when it started to give her trouble and got a new white 740 Volvo as its replacement. But I will never forget her talking about how much she loved that Seville.
I’d be happy just to have santa repaint my current car (1976 Coupe DeVille) although one of those mid 60s Pontiac limos that have been posted here several times are very tempting.
Nice car!
A friend of mine has that same car in that exact color, albeit with the wire wheel covers. Crystal Blue Firemist is a great looking color.
I especially like the white leather with blue trim!
That’s amazing in so many different ways! 🙂 I almost feel sorry for that poor kid in his junk-heap Camaro.
Virtually any of my past cars! (Except the 86 Dodge ES400 convertible)
I’d love to see that under my tree.
Where do I start. If we are talking complete cars, a new 5.0 Convertible Mustang, a 1969 Cougar Convertible, or a Boattail Riv would all be great under the tree. If we are just talking parts a new 5.0 crate engine, 4.10 gears, Cobra diff, 31 spline axles and some widened Factory wheels wrapped with 305’s for my Marauder would also be nice and a little easier to fit under the tree.
I would like to get a good amount of progress done on my Ford Escort Mk1 (after finishing work on
23 other cars first), assuming I can decide what to do with it: mainly what engine & driveline and whether to run flares or not.I would want a 1967 Pontiac Bonneville (or Executive) wagon with a suitable modern drivetrain, ABS/four-wheel disc brakes/radials, some kind of roll cage construction/door guard beams, three-point belts, and R-134 air conditioning, all combined with the original interior and sheetmetal. Well, you asked.
Late(ish) Ranger 4WD, 4.0L V6. The 50% improvement in mileage over the V8 Chevy would be a help.
Beyond that: John Deere B, preferably non-styled. 🙂
My late grandmother’s silver ’64 Buick Riviera.
And a pre-paid fuel card.
A late 90s Landrover Defender 110 with a 300Tdi diesel, or a Ford Transit crew van, also diesel.
I’ve always wanted a Landrover, and I need something to haul people and stuff.
Javelin 401 with the quad taillights, a 1st generation Pacer, a Gremlin, or if none of those were available, a cherry Subaru SVX, preferably with the 5-speed conversion but bone stock is OK, too.
I dig the weird stuff.
Alfa Romeo in the “Good Ole US o’ A”. That’s my automotive Christmas wish.
So hard to choose! For today, I’ll say a great Christmas car would be a 1976 Seville, low original miles, in Firethorn red with matching interior. If that’s not Christmasy I don’t know what is — and a first-gen Seville is on my bucket list.
I had to laugh out loud when I read this. This is on MY bucket list as well!! Although I want silver (the original first production color in summer of ’75) or black. Would be sooooo nice to have.
All the memories of my sister’s ’77 Seville are still so vivid. I remember the cool chime/bell that used to ring if you left the lights on or key in the ignition. It had a yellow and green light on the dashboard for fuel economy, and we always had her yelling at us for turning on the rear seat reading lamps while she drove. I thought it was the coolest car but not for long – my Mom got her new ’79 Riviera and then that became the coolest car to me. Today I think the Seville is right up there as one of my favorite GM vehicles of all time, along with the 79-85 Toronado and Eldorado. But my #1 favorite will always be the 1979 Riviera.
I (amazingly) got my automotive christmas wish – A 1990 Cadillac Brougham w/ 5.7! Love it!
Give me an ’88 Pontiac Fiero Formula with a 2.8 and a 5 speed. So long as I don’t have to drive it in rain or snow, I’m good.
Love these…better than the GTs. My dream Fiero would be a blue ’87 SE V6 5-speed.
Anything with the 4.1L Buick V6.
I had a 1981 Cadillac Sedan de Ville with the Buick V6 4.1 in the 1990’s I thought it was a safe buy because it was not an HT4100. Not only was it the slowest vehicle I have ever driven, but after I had to get the head gasket replaced and a valve job, the lower end started to knock shortly thereafter. This was with less than 100,000 miles on it. Should have replaced the whole thing with a SBC 350. Traded the car for a 91 Sedan de Ville instead that turned out to be a really good car. The person I sold it to took it well over 250,000 miles and just recently junked it.
I respectfully suggest that you aim a little higher 😉
My favorite gifts have always been kits. Here’s the kit I’d like for my Miata. Some assembly required. Please, Santa?
As much as I’d like to have an oddball like a ’76 Mazda RX-5 Cosmo or a ’66 AMC Marlin, if I’m only gonna ask for one car, I’ve gotta satisfy my longing for something big and black. Make it a ’76 Fleetwood Brougham with the footrests in the back seat and the tufted velour interior.
One of my favorite cars!! Of course, it would be even better to find a d’Elegance or…a **Talisman**!!!!
I think the Talisman was only available in ’74, but I could be wrong. I like to think of it as the Maybach of its time.
Actually the Talisman was available from 1974-76. And very rare!
If we’re going for nostalgia, then somone already took mine – 1976 Cadillac Seville. But if we’re going for the ultimate fantasy vehicle, then there’s only ONE answer…
2013 Rolls Royce Phantom sedan
A Cricklewood Bentley. In descending order of preference: Speed Six, 4.5 and Red Label 3. Any would be fine, with VDP coachwork. Or Jumbo Goddard’s 8 liter 😉
/hey, it’s Christmas!- a man can dream…
Since I’m so unselfish, new Mondeo wagon for the wife. Or a Subaru Legacy 3.0R SpecB.
Jaguar MK II, steel grey with steel wheels and a four speed.
Or…
Lark IV, with three on the tree. Any color.
ok…. here goes …….. a Subaru STI, 2008ish as an everyday driver and a 1966 Riv or 1967 2 dr. Pontiac Executive as the sunday driver.
And Diana Rigg, circa 1967 in the backseat.
Please SANTA!!!!
If it was for a complete assembled and driving car at the present time, A Pontiac Solstice convertible. Preferably one that doesn’t leak.
Otherwise, parts for my ’81 Riviera and ’78 GMC would be in order.
78 GMC what? Are you anywhere near NC?
My favorite family car growing up was my mother’s 1970 Plymouth Sport Suburban; it would be a lot of fun to have one of those now. At the opposite end of the spectrum, and since this is a wishing exercise, I am quite drawn to the current Jaguar XFR.
Good choice. My mother drove a ’71 when we lived in Texas, and it flattened many an armadillo on rural highways.
Good ? Paul, I would want a Caddy CTS V Wagon with stick shift. It just blows my mind that GM sold/sells such a crazy wonderful machine like that
My Christmas wishlist is the actual 1978 KHC230 Nissan Laurel pictured below. It’s for sale here, and I’m currently in negotiations to buy. The bank said yes, but as it’s a fresh import to NZ it won’t be complied for use on our roads and ready for sale until mid-January. Mmmmmmmm, 2.0L straight-6, 5 speed manual, power windows, aircon, and pillarless! Fingers crossed for a late Xmas pressie!
Do Lego models count as they did last year, Paul?
A Citroen SM and the budget for a live-in SM specialist (not an S&M specialist…although owning one of these can be an exercise in masochism, supposedly).
For a more real-world, attainable goal? Having a 30-mile commute each way, I’d like something comfortable and quiet to de-stress in…a nice torquey ’60s or ’70s Cadillac would be just the ticket. If I could get the maintenance and fuel costs to come in under the cost of a new car payment and fuel, I’d be golden.
The W124 convertible. I almost pounced on one a few years ago but didn’t. Big regrets.
I came across this mint-condition 1995 Acura Legend on ebay. Perfect color combination and the last model year for the Legend. It would look great next to my 2010 TSX. Merry Christmas!
I’m currently prepping a pair of replacement doors for a 1966 Chrysler I am restoring. Santa can bring me the replacement weatherstripping, window slides, gaskets, etc. that I’ll need to put them back together. 🙂
OTOH, if a Christmas present is supposed to be something you wouldn’t normally buy for yourself, I would take this ’62 Imperial convertible.
http://www.legendaryfind.com/cars/pin/32552/
A Duesenburg
Go big or go home!
Nothing says perfection like a Duesenberg. How can anyone even dream about such elegance, dignity, grace, and style and imagine it being real? There is no equal.
Early 1930s Duesenberg Model J sedan:
If there really IS a Santa out there, I have two wishes:
CTS-V Sport Wagon and Camaro ZL1.
Either one will do just fine.
I’ll have one of these, please. The color on this one is quite nice too.
My automotive wish is that every cell phone would fall out of the hands of people who are driving and that those dweebs would start paying attention to what is going on around them.
Santa, make mine a Citroen SM in royal blue, a Merc 450 SEL 6.9 in maroon and a nicely tuned-up Mini Clubman Estate in black.
Do I sound greedy?
oh, wait, I must admit I’m currently very much intrigued by this chap:
http://www.ruylclassics.nl/alfa13_eng.htm
so, please, Santa, will ya?!
I’m late to this party , but my wish is quite simple.
Send me back to December 1973 , when i spotted the 61 Imperial Lebaron sitting on the used car lot of the local Ford dealership..
Kind of a greenisn color, loaded with options, including stainless steel roof inserts, rust free exterior, with a beautiful original interior
Being 17 years old at the time ,and needing my Dads signature to buy , suffice it to say it didn’t happen, even though the asking price of $400 or so I’m sure could have been negotiated .
Oh by the way, did I happen to mention this Lebaron was was 1 of a 1026 made in 61?
I may have surprised some other readers by tossing off my choice of a 2005-2009 Mustang. I’ll have to explain, I think, why my choice wasn’t some fin car. You may remember that I owned that red ’58 Belvedere convertible with the red and black interior for 32 years. I also owned at various times (in no particular order, just as I remember them):
– 1957 Belvedere 4-door sedan, black and white. 56 Plymouth 277 engine that I installed in the maintenance shop at work. Sold after a few months.
– 1957 Belvedere 2-door ht, 318 TF, ps, gold and white. Short-term.
– 1958 Belvedere 2-door ht, 318 TF, ps, black fake vinyl top, turquoise paneled paint. I had this about a year.
– 1958 Belvedere 2-door ht, 318 PF, ps, coral pink on brown/tan. Parts car. Power steering setup went into my convertible. After I sold it, it ended up being restored into a Christine, a successful show car.
– 1957 Savoy 4-door ht, very rare body style, TF, ps, pb. Parts car. Weird engine, may have been a Dodge 315. Wingtip bumpers, which I sold a couple of years ago for $1000.
– 1958 Belvedere 4-door sedan, 318 TF, given to me. Bled the brakes, replaced a freeze plug, sold in about a month.
– 1958 Belvedere 4-door sedan, 318 TF, painted to look like a Christine, blue interior. Short-term.
– 1957 New Yorker 4-door ht, turquoise and white in/out. Bought 1968 or so, owned for 7 or 8 years. It had lots of miles on it but was a great car for me.
– 1958 Imperial Southampton 4-door ht, white on tan. Owned for a couple of years, another good car.
– 1957 DeSoto wagon, pale moss green. Bought really cheap, cleaned a wheelbarrow load of detritus out of it, washed and detailed it, resold for a small profit.
– 1957 DeSoto Firedome 4-door sedan, coral and gray. Bought with engine apart in trunk/backseat, stored for a few months, sold, broke even.
– 1961 Belvedere convertible, 318, tf, ps. White on blue. Nice driver, had to clean lots of tobacco gunk out of the interior. Sold after a couple of months, small profit. Never had the top down.
– 1960 New Yorker 2-door ht, reddish “Toreador Red” on silver/black. The guy I bought it from had rescued it from outside storage with standing water in the interior and trunk, but no rustout, just ruined carpets. This was another car that I got quite a bit of use out of and thoroughly enjoyed. Sold to LeRoi Tex Smith.
So you can see why I don’t think I want another fin car. If I was to be gifted with an old Chrysler product, another 300L would do quite nicely.
Hm, I’m a family man, so it has to be a family car, right? So, we’ll go with a 1967 Mustang GT with the high output 289 and custom high-flow exhaust and custom high performance four-wheel disc brakes (Japan has too many hills and terrible summers to mess around with downhill brake fade), perhaps in a nice Acapulco Blue. Four seats, it has four seats, and is thus a perfect means of conveyance for my family. Oh, and it would be nice for it to be invisible to speed cameras and the fuzz’s radar/laser thingies. I could do without the $1000 in fines and drivers’ safety classes that are included in speeding tickets.
If I am forced to be more practical, a second generation Mazda 5 would be absolute perfection for us, with the power sliding doors and the 2.3L engine (or the 2L diesel, I’m not picky) in any color besides silver or white. The Mustang could be our backup vehicle.
If Santa was really handing out cars this Christmas (I’ve been good, I promise!) I’d like one of these, please. With a pretty bow on it too. Now this is a family car!